Nailing-machine.



Patented Oct. 28, I902.

J. W. REED.

NAILING MACHINE.

(Appliation filed July 3,' 1.901.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN WESLEY REED, OF HAMMOND, INDIANA.

NAILVING-MAVCHl-N E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 712,331, dated October 28, 1902.

Application led July 3, 1901. Serial No. 66,973. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, JOHN WESLEY REED, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hammond, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented new and u seful lmprovements in Nailing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to nailing-machines operated either by hand or power, but more particularly by hand, and in which the nails are automatically formed from a wire as the machine is operated.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in" all the figures.

Figure 1 is a vertical section showing the principal working parts in elevation of a structure embodying my invention, certain movable parts being shown by dotted lines as occupying altered positions. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, certain parts being broken away. Fig. 3 is a horizont-alsection upon the line 3 3, shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isaperspectivedetail showing the anvil. Fig. 5 is a perspective of the cutting-dies and adjacent parts.

A suitable frameis provided, the same comprising, preferably, two plates 1 2, spaced apart by a ridge or bead 3, centrally placed between said plates and secured by screws 3', which pass through holes 4' for the purpose. The lower part of each plate is widened, preferably by being provided with large ears 4 5, for the purpose of supporting certain movable parts herein mentioned. Any other suitable type of frame,however, may be used.

The working parts ofthe machine comprise, broadly, the feed mechanism 10 for feeding the wire, the adjustment 20 for governing the: length of nail to be cut from the wire, the

anvil 30, acting as a mandrel or block for shaping the wire and for bracing the nail after the same is cut off, the former 41 for bending the wire upon the anvil and forming the same,

and the hammer 50 for cutting the nail from the wire and driving the nail, said hammer being provided with a cutting-die 51, which mates a stationary die 6l in the frame.

The feed mechanism 10 comprises a doublelanged feed-wheel 11, the flanges of which, like the operating-surface of the roller12, are

provided witha tile-like surface 112 for roughing the surfaces of the nails and holding the wire. The roller 12 is mounted upon the frame by a pin 13. The feed-wheel 11 is provided with ratchet-teeth 13. Said anged wheel 11 is loosely mounted upon astationary shaft 14, andparallel with said anged wheel is a pinion 15, also loose upon said shaft. A pawl 16 is pivoted upon the wheel 11 and engages the teeth of said pinion 15 to prevent relative backward movement between said wheel and said pinion. Another pawl 17, secured upon the part 5 of the frame, prevents backward rotation of the wheel 11 relatively to the frame. The teeth of the pinion 15 are engaged by the teeth of the rack 18, which is mounted upon the rack-bar 18', which reciprocates vertically through guides 19, secured upon the frame 1 2. The reciprocating vertical motion of the rack causes the pinion 15 to rock, and the rocking of the pinion causes the feed-wheel 11 to rotate intermittingly a definite part of a revolution at a time in a direction which is left-handed or contrary to that of a clock-hand when the parts are seen as in Fig. .1. Under the feedwheel 11 passes' the wire .11', and the same is o'f course intermittingly fed into the machine by the intermittent rotation of the feed-wheel and of the idle roller 12, between which parts the wire passes. The length of each movement of thewire determines the length of the nail to be severed from the wire and is itself governed by the length of stroke of the rackbar 18', and the length of stroke in this part can be regulated at will by means of the adjustment' 20. As the wire passes through the feed mechanism its surface 62 is roughened, so as to aiord a good holding-surface for the nail.

The adjustment 20`comprises a lever 21, y

ICO

the free end of the lever is reciprocated vertically to any desired distance, the length of wire fed at each step, and consequently the length of nail, is governed by the selection of the particular hole occupied by the peg. Yet independently of this adj ustmeut the length of nail can be regulated by the length of stroke of the hammer, which can be so handled as to give any desired length of stroke, depending upon the distance to which it is lifted by the hand of the operator. To secure uniformity in the length of nails, however, I prefer to place the peg 24 in the proper hole to give the desired length of nail and then to raise the hammer to its full stroke. Any other suitable means may be employed.

A plate-spring 27 is secured upon the frame and curved over the lever, so as to press upon the same, said lever being normally held downward by the spring, as shown in full lines in Fig. l. The free end of the lever moves in a vertical arc and is actuated by movements of the hammer. Its movements are limited by the shoulders 28 29.

The anvil 30 comprises a semidsk 3l, loosely pivoted at its center, so as to rock upon a fixed pin 32, and engaged by a spiral spring 33, the outer end of which is secured to a pin 34, the inner end being secured to said fixed pin 32, as shown more particularly in the lower portion of Fig. 2. The anvil is provided with circumferential teeth 35 36, one of which, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, is somewhat deeper than the other. Pivoted upon a pin 37 in the frame l just above the semidisk is an L-shaped dog 38, the nose 39 of which by means of the plate-spring 39' is normally pressed into engagement with the smaller tooth 35 of the semidisk, and said dog prevents rotation of the anvil while the same is being used in the formation of a nail, asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. When, however, the dog occupies the position indicated in full lines in said figure, the anvil is free to rock about ninety degrees or a quarter-circle, so that the smaller tooth 35 will pass upward beneath said pawl, while the larger tooth 36 will stop against the nose of said pawl and the movement of the anvil will be limited thereby. In performing this movement the anvil is actuated by the stroke of the hammer 50, which also moves the dog 38 from the position shown in dotted lines to that shown in full lines in Fig. 2, all as hereinafter explained. The anvil is partially cut away, as shown in Fig. 4, and into the opening 67 thus formed there projects a V-shaped end 63 of a cutting-die 64, which is removably secured in the frame. This die is also provided with a channel 65, fitting the wire. The extreme lower end of the hammer is also provided with a removable die 66, the eutting edge of which is a V-shaped slot 67, mating the V-shaped projection of the other die. The slots in the die of the hammer and in the body of the hammer register with each other and form one practically continuous V- shaped slot.

The former or tool for forming the nail comprises a block 41, one face of which is provided with a slight channel 42,running lengthwise of said block and forming a die for engaging the wire. This block slides vertically between the frame-plates l 2 in grooves 43 44, formed for the purpose. The block is actuated by means of a straight lever 45, pivoted at one end 46 upon the part 4 ofthe frame and is connected with said lever midway between the ends thereof by means of a pitman 47. The free end of said leveris provided with a roller 48 for the prevention of friction. At 49 is aleaf-spring mounted upon the frame by means of a bracket 49' for normally keeping the lever raised. When the feed of the wire takes place, the block 41 is upward and out of the way, and when the block descends the feed of the wire is stopped. Whenever the feeding mechanism causes the wire to travel the proper distance to form a nail, the feed is stopped by the limited movement of the feed-wheel, the anvil is locked by means of the dog 38, the projecting end 12 of the wire is bentdownward between the anvil and the block by the descending movement of the latter, and the partially-formed nail needs only the blow of the hammer to sever and thereby complete it and drive it home, the same blow of the hammer serving to rock the anvil out of the path of the hammer.

The hammer 50 comprises a long rod 5l, provided with a plurality of screw-holes 52 53, into any one of which the removable handle 54 may be secured. By having a number of these holes the height of the handle 54 may be adjusted. Another handle 55 is secured upon the frame and is also adjustable. This second handle is used for steadying the frame and holding the same down, if necessary, while the hammer and the parts driven thereby are being actuated by the handle 54. The hammer is fitted between the plates l 2 so as to slide freely and is partly cut away at a point near the lower end, leaving a shoulder 56, under which the roller 48 of the lever 45 engages whenever the hammer is raised. The extreme upper end of the hammer is provided with an attachable weight 68, used for increasing the momentum of the hammer. Formed in the back of the hammer are two slots 57 58, the purpose of which is stated below.

The general operation of my device is as follows: The handle 54 being fitted into any hole 52 53 suitable to the height of the workman, the handles are grasped and the hammer is reciprocated vertically. As the hammer ascends to a point where the shoulder 56 permits the roller 48 to roll under it the lever 45 is raised by the tension of spring 49 and by pulling upon the pitman 47 causes the former 4l to ascend. The slot 58 in the back IOO IIO

of the hammer normallyaccommodates the free end of the adjusting-lever 2l, as shown in full lines in Fig. l. l When the hammer approaches the limit of its upward stroke,

however, the free end of the lever 2l is raised by the hammer and carried thereby into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. The raising of the lever of course causes the Wire to be fed the proper distance to form a nail, the length of which varies according to the position of the adjustment, as above explained. When the hammer descends, the former 4:1 is forced downward, bending the wire vertically downward with it,immediately after which the hammer strikes the heel of the dog 38, throwing the dog into the position shown in Fig. 2, and thereby unlocking the same from the anvil. Immediately afterward the extreme end of the hammer strikes the Wire upon the anvil, severing the wire and rocking the anvil out of the way and driving the nail. The anvil is of such weight that its inertia will be sucient to hold it in place until the wire is cut, but not sufficient to Inaterially cushion the blow of the hammer upon the nail. When the hammer is raised, the anvil is retracted by its spiral spring 33, so as to occupy its original position. (Shown in Fig. 2.)

The nails are cut by the cutting-die of the hammer shearing past the stationary die in the frame and driven by the same stroke of the hammer. The hammer strikes the anvil and drives it out of the way. The anvil in rocking does not derange the position of the nail or interfere with its direction, the stem of the nail being guided by the vertical groove in the former 41.

'The dies when dull or worn out can be removed and replaced or new ones substituted.

This is a light, cheap, simple, and eficient device capable of use by a workman of ordinary intelligence.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. In a nailing-machine, a disappearing anvil comprising a semidisk pivoted at the geometrical center thereof and provided with circumferential teeth, a dog for engaging said teeth, a reciprocating former free to move into and out of a position adjacent to said anvil, a wire-feeding device, and a reciprocat` ing hammer for the purposes of actuating said former, releasing said dog and operating said wire-feeding device, and means for reciprocating said hammer, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a nailing-machine, wire-feeding devices, an anvil provided with two faces at right angles to each other thus constituting a forming-surface, a formerlprovided with an opposite forming-surface mating the forming-surface of a part of said anvil, said former being slidably mounted, a pitman for sliding said former, a lever connected with said pitman for actuating the same, and a reciprocating device for actuating the lever, the reciprocating device coacting with the anvil to form the wire and also constitutingahammer.

3. A frame having a die provided with a projection, a disappearinganvil provided with a slot for receiving said projection, and a hammer having a die provided with a slot for receiving said projection.

4. A nailing-machine, comprising a frame, means for feeding and cutting a wire, a disappearing anvil, a former for bending said wire over said anvil into the general shape of a nail, a dog for holding said anvil rigid while the nail is thus being formed, and means for tripping said dog and driving said nail.v

5. A nailing-machine, comprising a frame provided with a cutting-die, a reciprocating hammer provided with a die mating the same and with a striking-face,means for feeding a wire between said dies, a disappearing anvil provided with a surface normally disposed adjacent to said die in said frame, a former for bending said wire over said disappearing 'anvil and into the form of a nail, and a dog for normally holding said anvil rigid relatively to said frame, said dog and said anvil each lying partly within the path of said hammer, and free to move out of the path thereof when struck thereby.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

J. WESLEY REED.

Witnesses:

PETER W. MEYER, HERMAN BECKMAN. 

